Nothing but a cold cold heart
by Lakritzwolf
Summary: Written for the Fallout Kink Meme: The courier discovers that Vulpes has his soft moments. Who would have thought it?


Written for the Fallout Kink Meme: _There are so many fics of Vulpes being a mean bastard, but could Vulpes have a hidden tender side? I think so. (Extra bonus points if F!Courier and/or babies are involved. )_

* * *

It had been a perfectly logical choice. After the victory of Hoover Dam, a victory achieved largely by the cooperation and team play of Vulpes and the courier, and after the celebrations that had ended with them in a dark corner of the fort with her back against a wall and his hands digging under her armour while feverishly kissing, this had been the best possible action.

The courier had never particularly fancied herself a married woman. Living together without being married was out of question, however, and so she had surrendered to the circumstances. Mostly, it wasn't that bad. Vulpes harboured a certain respect for her and he was a considerate lover, if he wanted to. It wasn't that he was cruel or brutal that upset her, it was that most of the time, she hardly existed to him. Or so it seemed. That had changed a few months ago. After she had discovered and had told him about her pregnancy, he had practically carried her on his hands.

"Should you be doing that?"  
The courier, having run into Vulpes while carrying a bucket of water, put said bucket down and shrugged. "It's just a bucket of water."  
"You should not be doing any heavy lifting."  
"For god's sake, I'm pregnant, not ill. It's just a bucket."  
Vulpes ignored her protest and, snapping his fingers, summoned a recruit to his side who had come wandering past.  
"Carry that to my tent." He pointed at the bucket.  
"Yes."

The courier looked at Vulpes' expressionless face, rolled her eyes and followed the recruit to their tent. She was sure he was trying not to snicker.

That night the baby did give her a lot of trouble. As babies are wont to do in the second half of pregnancy, it slept most of the day and was pretty active at night, kicking and boxing and turning and in general making such a nuisance of himself that the courier wasn't able to close her eyes for a second.  
Vulpes sat up at one point after having watched her toss and turn. "What is it?"  
"The baby is kicking me."  
Vulpes narrowed his eyes, then leaned over her swollen, heaving belly with its restless inhabitant and cleared his throat. "Listen well", he said. "Stop misbehaving at once, and treat your mother with the respect due to her."  
To the courier's utter amazement, the heaving stopped.

Ignoring her bedevilled stare, Vulpes lay back and folded his hands on his chest, closing his eyes with the expression of someone who has the satisfaction of a job well done.

**x-x-x-x-x-x**

"We shall name him Lucius."  
The courier looked up from her belly she had been contemplating and found Vulpes looking down at her. "Lucius?"  
"Do you have a problem with that name?"  
"No. But why?"  
"As an honour to a man I greatly respect and admire. I live in hopes that he shall grow up to be as great a warrior as his namesake."  
The courier ran a hand over her belly. "Did the thought ever occur to you..."  
"That he might not be a great fighter? It has." Vulpes crossed his arms. "That is no reason, however, not to rise high in the ranks of those true to Caesar. He might become a worthy frumentarius as well."  
"That's not what I meant to say."  
"Well, what do you think could be wrong with him?"  
She looked up with a crooked smile. "That it might be a girl?"  
"Ah. Of course." Vulpes narrowed his eyes. "Of course. In that case, you get to choose the name, and she will be raised as a priestess."  
"A priestess?"  
"Woman", Vulpes said slowly. "No child of mine shall end up being a slave."

The courier stared at him, not sure what to say, but she felt a hesitating smile spread on her lips. Vulpes in turn took a deep breath, shook his head and, muttering something about having duties to attend to, left the tent without looking back.

**x-x-x-x-x-x**

The courier was awoken in the middle of the night by a dull and heavy pain in her lower abdomen. Before she could sit up, however, she realised she was lying in a puddle of water. "Oh god..."  
Beside her, Vulpes shot up, making the transition from deep sleep to wide awake in less than two seconds. "What?"  
"My water broke... I... Vulpes, I think I'm going into labour."

He shot out of the bed as if stung by a cazadore and went for his clothes, cringing when behind him, the courier doubled over with a moan.

"Vulpes..."  
His attire resembling decency, he walked back to the bed and tilted his head. "Yes?"  
"I might not..." She swallowed and licked her lips. "I don't think I'll be able to suffer this in silence."

He looked down at her for a long, silent moment before he gently took her chin in his hand and kissed her. Without another word, he was out of the tent to get the midwife, leaving the courier to stare at his back with a mystified frown.

The first thing the midwife did was shoo Vulpes out of the tent and he stood there for the next few hours, listening to the courier scream in agony over and over again. At one point, shortly after dawn, Lucius passed the tent and Vulpes on his silent vigil and stood beside him for a few moments.

"She'll do fine", the elder warrior finally said. "She's a strong woman, Vulpes."  
"I know. That's what worries me. I couldn't have imagined anything making her scream that way."  
Lucius patted his shoulder with a laugh. "In that case, maybe you should practise your lovemaking a little more." With that, he left, after Vulpes had dutifully emitted a respectful chuckle.

The screaming went on for a few hours more until shortly before noon, it rose to a pitch and was followed by a deadly silence. Staring at the closed tent flap with a white face and narrow lips, Vulpes crossed his arms and braced himself for the news about the death of his wife and child. Inexplicably, he felt as if someone had plunged a knife into his heart and was twisting it by the hilt.

The tent flap opened and Vulpes straightened his back.

"Come in", the midwife said, a robust, strongly build woman with forearms like lesser men had legs. "And congratulations. You have a fine, healthy son."

Vulpes was at his wife's side within three heartbeats.

She was lying on the bed, pale, tired, but smiling. "We have a son."  
Vulpes leaned forward to look at the tiny bundle in her arms. "When will he begin to walk?"  
The courier snorted under her breath. "He's not even an hour old, Vulpes. You'll have to wait a little before you can begin to train him."  
Vulpes nodded and held out his arms. Somewhat hesitatingly, the courier peeled the baby out of her arms and held him out to his father. With an awkward, clumsy move, Vulpes took the child and stared at the tiny, naked body. "He is not very well endowed."  
"For god's sake, Vulpes!" The courier laughed shakily. "He won't need his penis for anything but piss for the next decade, and for that, it'll be perfectly large enough."  
Vulpes stared at the tiny form of his son in his arms, the wrinkled body and the dark, tousled hair. The boy looked up at him, frowned in concentration and proceeded to urinate over his father's armour.

Vulpes emitted a tiny, mildly annoyed sigh. "I guess that misbehaviour can be forgiven due to your tender age", he said with a frown. "But I won't tolerate it again."  
The courier tried to suppress a laugh, with meagre success. Vulpes handed the child back to her and picked up one of the midwife's rags to wipe his armour down. After that, he positioned himself in a corner and waited as the midwife packed her things together and left, after giving the courier a few more instructions. When she was gone, Vulpes closed the tent flap behind her and went down onto his knees beside the bed, and watched the courier put their son to her breast.

"Do you need anything else?", Vulpes asked after a while in a low voice.  
"I don't", was the reply. "Thank you."  
"No, I thank you", Vulpes said and lifted her chin with his forefinger. When the courier looked up, she found him look at her with an unfamiliar soft look in his eyes before he leaned over the child in her arms to kiss her.


End file.
